IATA outlines emissions expectations for ICAO assembly

The International Air Transport Association has high expectations for the upcoming International Civil Aviation Organization’s assembly, which runs from Sept. 24 to Oct. 4 in Montreal.
ICAO is scheduled to address safety, security and information exchange in the aviation industry, but much of the aviation world is focused on the discussion of the environmental impact of global airlines and the work toward a worldwide emissions cap.
“Climate change will be at the top of the assembly’s agenda,” IATA head Tony Tyler said in a statement. “We will be looking to states to make decisions that will enable the industry to meet its ambitious commitment to stabilizing its emissions from 2020 via carbon-neutral growth. It is important that governments keep firmly focused on reaching agreement on a global solution. Environment is a global challenge. Aviation is a global industry. And we need a global way forward. National or regional schemes are politically charged distractions. We must not allow such discussions to get in the way of important progress that needs to be made.”
IATA has already called for ICAO members to endorse a global, market-based approach to emissions, and the organization presented a white paper with four other industry groups that called for action on a emissions plan.
IATA and the other organizations — which include Airports Council International and the International Business Aviation Council — would like ICAO to agree on a plan to implement an emissions cap in 2020 and set out the principles for such an agreement at the current assembly. ICAO also needs to develop milestones that would help airlines ease into the new regulations, IATA said.